Jamaica Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Now 223

Kingston, Jamaica, April 20, 2020 (Jamaica Gleaner): Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is reporting an additional 27 cases of the coronavirus in Jamaica.

Of those 27, 19 are females and 8 are males.

Twenty-six of them are linked the Alorica call centre in Portmore, St Catherine.

Jamaica now has a total of 223 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Of the cases, 34 are imported, six are local transmission with no epidemiological link,  47 contacts of a confirmed case and 136 that are under investigation.

Of that 136, 120 have been identified within a workplace cluster, in addition to 16 other cases.

So far, 1,889 samples have been tested with 223 being positive, 1,655 are negative and 11 are pending.

There are 128 persons in isolation and 24 in quarantine in a government facility.

Twenty-seven persons have recovered and five have died.

Tufton stated that a growing number of the cases of severe respiratory infection being treated in hospitals are testing positive for COVID-19, indicating that Jamaica is now seeing the first sign of community spread.

He said persons with upper respiratory symptoms and influenza-like illnesses who turn up in hospitals and clinics are automatically tested.

These persons, he said, represent 21 positives that are not linked to contact tracing of a positive case.